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Lichfield Armour

On Wednesday, Pat sent me a link to a British Pathe film. The short film is from 1938 and shows boys and men dressed in armour for the Lichfield Bower. This on its own is fascinating stuff. However, this week it’s not only an interesting piece of footage but also a topical one!

The lead story in this week’s Mercury tells how the Bower Committee feel they have no choice but to sell off two of the four suits of armour they own (presumably some of those featured in the film?), to ensure the survival of the event. You can read the full article here.

There’s so much more to be said on the Bower, about its history & its future and also its place in the Lichfield psyche. There is a great site for the Bower which explores some of the history behind this Lichfeldian tradition, as well as giving updates on this year’s festivities.

You can view a copy of the film by clicking here. I think the procession is travelling down Beacon St in the film, what does anyone else think? Huge thanks to Pat for his great contribution, as ever.

I don’t have any photos of the Bower Armour, but I do have a photo of a suit of armour I took somewhere else in Lichfield. Anyone else spotted this chap in ye olde city?

Edit 23/2/2012

Over on twitter, the Beacon Street Blog have spotted a story in the Lichfield Mercury, saying that the armour has been withdrawn from the sale, due to a dispute over ownership with Lichfield District Council.

6 thoughts on “Lichfield Armour”

It seems a little bit like selling all the boats to raise funds for a sailing club ,I know
the armour is no longer used in the parade but it still forms part of Lichfield
history ,The whole point of history of a place is the pride the people of that
place can focus on we need things in our lives to be proud of when it has gone
it is gone forever.

It must be a difficult decision for them to make. What concerns me is that this seems to be a short term solution and any money raised will only last so long, if the event continues to make a loss. As Born a Lichfeldian says below, maybe local businesses should make a contribution to the day, if they don’t already do so, although in an economic climate like this, things are probably hard enough for them. Also I’m probably naive about these things, but I was really surprised at some of the costs involved.

I agree with Pat. This is a very sad day for the heritage of Our City. Maybe if people donated some money from the local businesses the suits of armour could be bought for the City? The Bower has it’s traditions going back 800 years or so and was originally used for a call to arms of the men from the City of a certain age. This was followed by some time off as a reward. There is so much about this tradition and there have been modern celebrations for many many years during this period. The history of the Bower is huge and it is one of the many traditions of this great City. The selling off of these suits of armour is a great loss!